Any English speeking mechanics out there?

[msta999]

We are looking at moving to Norway, my original plan was to retire there and do some traveling, but I found out that was wishful thinking! So, I am looking for work  there and hope to get a permanent residence permit later on, if all works out. I am wondering what the job market is like in Norway, the more og romsdal area is where I would like to be, I have been a mechanic for around 25 years. I am open to pretty much any job as long as it pays the wages a person needs to apply for a residence permit.

[Uderzo]

Moved the thread to a better suited category  

 

[msta999]

Thank you!

[:utakt]

Currently there's 22 open (advertised) positions as mechanic in the Møre and Romsdal area. The main "hubs" for looking for work in Norway are finn.no and nav.no. 

Link to Finn search result:

https://www.finn.no/job/fulltime/search.html?abTestKey=rerank&location=1.20001.20015&occupation=0.38&sort=RELEVANCE

Not sure if the site is in English, I could not find a language selector. Perhaps Google translate can help you out! 

If you are looking to be a car mechanic, the Norwegian translation is "bilmekaniker". 

Best of luck! 

[jjkoggan]

msta999 skrev (1 time siden):

We are looking at moving to Norway, my original plan was to retire there and do some traveling, but I found out that was wishful thinking! So, I am looking for work  there and hope to get a permanent residence permit later on, if all works out. I am wondering what the job market is like in Norway, the more og romsdal area is where I would like to be, I have been a mechanic for around 25 years. I am open to pretty much any job as long as it pays the wages a person needs to apply for a residence permit.

I can't help you unfortunately since I am an american but since I have also considered retiring in Norway, I am curious why you are choosing Norway.  If you don't want to share why, I understand.

A quick job  search in  www.finn.no  (keyword -"mechanic")  shows 45 job openings in Møre/Romsdal  BTW.

[msta999]

My family is from there and I would like to get to know some of the family that is still there, plus I have a son living in Europe.....I can live there and travel shorter distances to other places, I love Alaska and Norway looks pretty much the same.

[jjkoggan]

msta999 skrev (6 minutter siden):

My family is from there and I would like to get to know some of the family that is still there, plus I have a son living in Europe.....I can live there and travel shorter distances to other places, I love Alaska and Norway looks pretty much the same.

Makes sense.  keep us up to date,  it would be interesting to hear if you can work something out.  I tried when I was younger to get a job in Norway after studying there for a year and found it impossible at that time, mostly due to strict immigration policies.  I'm not sure how things have changed since 1980, but I assume they have quite a bit.

Good luck!

[:utakt]

Just dropping some other links that might come in handy. 

https://www.norge.no/en

(information site) 

https://www.norge.no/en/life_situation/new-norway

(info for newcomers) 

https://www.workinnorway.no/

(info on how to find work) 

https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/person/foreign/you-must-notify-us-when-you-move/moving-to-norway/

(tax administration. Probably the government instance you really don't want to forget about!) 

 

 

Endret 30. september 2021 av :utakt

[Uderzo]

The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration.

https://www.udi.no/en/want-to-apply/

[msta999]

Anyone heard of www.glassdoor.com, I see they have jobs too.

[:utakt]

Never heard of them (Glassdoor). Looking at the dropdown menu at the bottom of the site, it doesn't appear they have a Norwegian office. I can only speak for myself but I doubt these guys are well known over here. Might be legit though.

If you're looking for temporary positions you could always register your CV with some of the main companies working with filling those positions.

https://www.adecco.no/ledige-stillinger/work-in-norway/

https://jobzone.no/en/

https://www.manpower.no/en

[jjkoggan]

:utakt skrev (29 minutter siden):

Never heard of them (Glassdoor). Looking at the dropdown menu at the bottom of the site, it doesn't appear they have a Norwegian office. I can only speak for myself but I doubt these guys are well known over here. Might be legit though.

If you're looking for temporary positions you could always register your CV with some of the main companies working with filling those positions.

https://www.adecco.no/ledige-stillinger/work-in-norway/

https://jobzone.no/en/

https://www.manpower.no/en

Glassdoor is a major job search company based in San Francisco, but is now entering the european market.  

[Serpentbane]

jjkoggan skrev (36 minutter siden):

Glassdoor is a major job search company based in San Francisco, but is now entering the european market.  

Finn.no is perhaps the most popular portal when comes to buying anything between pencil sharpeners, cars, properties and $100000000 yachts, and it's in many ways the portal for job anoncements as well. This is where you want to be. 

Most Norwegians speaks English rather well, some even better than Americans, or so an American told me. 😇 BUT, if you want to move here and get a job, learn the language. It's a huge plus if you want a propper job. 

Also keep in mind Norwegians are well educated as a whole, and this even includes technical jobs like mechanics and other hands on jobs. In general, depending on the firm making the announcement they might or might not ask for some degree of education. Experience will count naturally, some even prefer it, but don't be surprised if education is more of an requirement with the larger companies. Not to say you're not educated. 

And, last month 90% of new cars sold were electric. So, again, if you apply at a dealership often servicing newer vehicles, there might be some requirements towards electronics and high voltage as well. Often the companies send their employees to get additional knowledge or education to be able to work with these cars, but you would need to be willing. 

Older cars do not vanish over night, so there will still be room for ordinary mechanics for years still. And EV's share many parts with ICE vehicles as well. Depends on how many years you expect to be active. 

 

[msta999]

Thanks for the info.

My hope is to get on with a utility.....manlifts, diggers, cars, pickups, truck, tractors, construction equipment. I have many schools through the years, just depends on what they are looking for.....diesel, gas, welding.....

 

I did see jobs on glassdoor, that is why I asked about it, see some on Linkedin too. I'll look through the ones posed on here tonight.

Again, thanks for the help, everyone!!

The wife and I have both been using an app to study learn Norwegian for the last couple weeks, so.....it's going slow, but we are getting it done.

Endret 30. september 2021 av msta999

[jjkoggan]

Serpentbane skrev (18 minutter siden):

Finn.no is perhaps the most popular portal when comes to buying anything between pencil sharpeners, cars, properties and $100000000 yachts, and it's in many ways the portal for job anoncements as well. This is where you want to be. 

Most Norwegians speaks English rather well, some even better than Americans, or so an American told me. 😇 BUT, if you want to move here and get a job, learn the language. It's a huge plus if you want a propper job. 

Also keep in mind Norwegians are well educated as a whole, and this even includes technical jobs like mechanics and other hands on jobs. In general, depending on the firm making the announcement they might or might not ask for some degree of education. Experience will count naturally, some even prefer it, but don't be surprised if education is more of an requirement with the larger companies. Not to say you're not educated. 

And, last month 90% of new cars sold were electric. So, again, if you apply at a dealership often servicing newer vehicles, there might be some requirements towards electronics and high voltage as well. Often the companies send their employees to get additional knowledge or education to be able to work with these cars, but you would need to be willing. 

Older cars do not vanish over night, so there will still be room for ordinary mechanics for years still. And EV's share many parts with ICE vehicles as well. Depends on how many years you expect to be active. 

 

Most Norwegians speak English well, but many are afraid to use those skills.  My experience also in Norway is that many Norwegians get preoccupied with grammatical correctness , while native speakers tend to speak colloquially which is often grammatically incorrect, but more "american".  If you want to sound like a native speaker, you often have to unlearn what you learned in school.   In any event I agree that Norwegians generally are quite fluent in English.  

Just a little perspective from a typical american from Ohio who studied in Norway and experienced full immersion.

 

[Serpentbane]

jjkoggan skrev (6 timer siden):

Most Norwegians speak English well, but many are afraid to use those skills.  My experience also in Norway is that many Norwegians get preoccupied with grammatical correctness , while native speakers tend to speak colloquially which is often grammatically incorrect, but more "american".  If you want to sound like a native speaker, you often have to unlearn what you learned in school.   In any event I agree that Norwegians generally are quite fluent in English.  

Just a little perspective from a typical american from Ohio who studied in Norway and experienced full immersion.

 

Yeah, what I wrote was a little joke, or pun, in that direction, not because I think we're actually better than native English speakers. Same goes here, I live in Trøndelag, and my brother has several foreigners working at his farm which are a little exasperated trying to speak Norwegian with us. Because, like you we speak somewhat different from school Norwegian. 

That said, you can be right in regards of not daring to talk English, or even talk properly. Many feels it's awkward to try to talk properly, and instead falls back on this very typical Norwegian thing we call Petter Solberg English, even if this sounds much worse. 

[Gunnar Mo]

12 hours ago, msta999 said:

My hope is to get on with a utility.....manlifts, diggers, cars, pickups, truck, tractors, construction equipment. I have many schools through the years, just depends on what they are looking for.....diesel, gas, welding.....

 

The main question will be if you qualify as a skilled worker:

https://www.udi.no/en/want-to-apply/work-immigration/skilled-workers/?c=usa#link-816

I believe you need to have a job offer before you get the accreditation, but short version is that if you can't get your background approved, it will be very hard to get a job. There is a large number of Eastern-Europeans looking for these jobs. They are cheap and already have the permit to work. It will be too much hassle for most employers to hire an American that's not already in Norway.

Endret 1. oktober 2021 av Gunnar Mo

[msta999]

4 hours ago, Gunnar Mo said:

The main question will be if you qualify as a skilled worker:

https://www.udi.no/en/want-to-apply/work-immigration/skilled-workers/?c=usa#link-816

I believe you need to have a job offer before you get the accreditation, but short version is that if you can't get your background approved, it will be very hard to get a job. There is a large number of Eastern-Europeans looking for these jobs. They are cheap and already have the permit to work. It will be too much hassle for most employers to hire an American that's not already in Norway.

Yes, I am seeing it is not going to be a easy thing to do, we'll have to see how it goes.....maybe come up with a "Plan B" !

[Sjørøver]

I don't think getting a job would be a problem. We have lots of workers from different countries, and everyone is fluent in English. 

[msta999]

Anyone know if there is a term for Fleet Mechanic? I'd like to find a company that has it's own mechanics to work on it's equipment.